7018 Welding Rod Low Hydrogen Electrode

OCEAN WELDING E7018 is an iron-powder, low-hydrogen, potassium-type welding electrode that complies with the AWS A5.1 E7018 standard and corresponds to GB/T 5117 E5018, ISO 2560-B E4918, and JIS Z 3211 E4918 standards. Designed for applications such as structural steel, pressure vessels, shipbuilding, piping, and bridge construction, the electrode offers a minimum tensile strength of 70 ksi and 22% elongation, with Charpy V-notch impact toughness of at least 27 J at -29°C. Its diffusible hydrogen content meets the H8 standard, with H4-grade products available upon request. Manufactured by Hangzhou Lin'an Ocean Welding Materials Co., Ltd. since 1995, every batch is verified using a German Spectromax OES spectrometer and accompanied by a comprehensive factory quality inspection certificate.

E7018 is a carbon steel welding electrode featuring an iron powder and low-hydrogen potassium-type coating. It is specifically designed for vertical-down welding applications and is suitable for use with both AC and DC power sources.
The electrode offers excellent welding performance, characterized by a stable arc, attractive weld bead appearance, minimal spatter, and easy slag removal. The deposited metal exhibits stable mechanical properties-including good ductility and low-temperature impact toughness-as well as low diffusible hydrogen content and outstanding crack resistance.

Applications:

This product is suitable for welding carbon steel and low alloy steel structures in marine engineering, ships, storage tanks, pressure vessels, and bridges.

Shipbuilding & Marine Fabrication

The excellent all-position welding performance of this welding electrode enables manufacturers to perform flat welding, vertical welding, and overhead welding operations using this single type of electrode at all stages from component prefabrication to segment assembly.

Pressure Vessel

 

E7018 electrodes produce welds meeting X-ray inspection standards and feature low diffusible hydrogen content; typical applications include longitudinal and circumferential shell seams, head-to-shell joints, nozzle welding, saddle connections, and internal baffle welding.

Bridges / Structural Steel

 

E7018 is widely used in applications such as moment-resisting beam-to-column connections, girder splicing, gusset plates, base plates, column joints in high-rise buildings, and the assembly of box girders for bridges. For projects adhering to the AWS D1.1 code, E7018 is the preferred low-hydrogen filler material.

why choose our products

 

• Manufacturer direct： produced at our Hangzhou Lin'an plant since June 1995. No middleman markup.
• AWS A5.1 classified： Rm ≥ 490 MPa, ReL ≥ 400 MPa, A ≥ 22 %, KV ≥ 27 J at −29 °C. Every claim traceable to mill test certificate.
• Chemistry verified per heat on a German Spectromax OES spectrometer with four-stage inspection (raw material, pre-furnace, semi-finished, finished).
• ISO 9001, CE, SGS certified quality system and product.
• All-position performance： flat, horizontal, vertical-up, overhead (vertical-down is not recommended for any E7018, a coating-system limitation, not a brand limitation).
• Iron-powder deposition boost： approximately 110 % deposition efficiency, cutting arc time versus E7015 / E7016.
• Free samples for buyer qualification testing.
• OEM welcome: private-label packaging from 1 MT per size.
• 8–25 day lead time after PI confirmation; FOB Ningbo / CFR / CIF / EXW.

E7018 is a low-hydrogen electrode and must be kept dry. Moisture in the flux coating breaks down in the arc, releasing atomic hydrogen that can cause hydrogen-induced cold cracking in the heat-affected zone - sometimes hours or days after welding.

Storage & baking best practice:

1. Long-term storage: unopened, hermetically sealed cartons store in a dry warehouse (< 60 % RH) for up to 12 months.
2. Pre-use bake: 300–400 °C (572–752 °F) for 1–2 hours in a rod oven. Ramp rate ≤ 5 °C / min.
3. Holding oven: 100–150 °C (212–302 °F) in a heated quiver on the welder's belt.
4. Atmospheric exposure limit: ≤ 4 hours for standard E7018; ≤ 9 hours for moisture-resistant (H4R) variants.
5. Re-bake if exposed too long: 350–400 °C for 1 h; AWS D1.1 severe re-bake at 370–425 °C for 1 h.
6. Maximum re-bakes: 2, cumulative time ≤ 10 hours. Discard beyond that.
7. Never mix E7018 with cellulosic electrodes (E6010 / E6011) in the same oven, cellulosic rods vent moisture.

• Short arc:arc length ≈ electrode diameter (2–3 mm)
• Drag technique:E7018 is designed to be dragged, not weaved beyond 2.5× rod diameter
• Strike ahead, weld back:strike the arc 3–5 mm ahead of the joint start, then bring the arc back to prevent starting porosity
• Clean the joint:20 mm each side of the weld line to bright metal
• Multi-pass:chip and wire-brush slag between every pass
• Fill the crater:never break the arc into an open crater; back-step or fill first
• Preheat per CE:carbon equivalent CE = C + Mn/6 + (Cr+Mo+V)/5 + (Ni+Cu)/15; preheat 80–150 °C when CE > 0.45 or t > 25 mm

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